Chocolate Chip Zucchini Quinoa Muffins

I got home yesterday after a long walk in Central Park with Trevi and a girlfriend, and all I could think about was muffins. Well, first I watched an episode (or two) of Nashville and THEN it was muffin-brain.

I'm not sure why, but I had this compulsion bake. I had picked up some zucchini at the market, planning to use if for a spiralized dinner, but for some reason I just had to have zucchini muffins.

So I turned to my trusty quinoa muffin recipe, gave it a few tweaks and here we have it…chocolate chip zucchini quinoa muffins!

What I love about this muffin recipe is that it uses really basic ingredients (except for maybe quinoa flakes…but you know how much I love baking with them!), and it's really healthy. It's basically just like oatmeal, with a little fruit and natural sweeteners, turned into muffins.

There's no eggs, oil, dairy or gluten in sight!

One of my favorite flours to bake with, besides quinoa flour, is oat flour. For starters, I love that you can make oat flour at home in a blender. Second, it's super affordable, especially if you buy oats in bulk (just remember, if you're celiac or have a severe gluten intolerance, you should purchase gluten-free certified oats!). Also, oat flour helps keep baked goods super moist AND it's nutritious!

Why are oats great?

Not only do I adore how versatile oats are — like honestly you can use them in baking, for cereals, granolas, and so much more — but oats they're actually quite good for you too. Oats are really high in dietary fiber, which makes them a great breakfast food because they’ll fill you up and also help to stabilize blood sugar. Oats also contain some protein (definitely not as much as quinoa, but that's okay!) as well as trace minerals like iron, magnesium and phosphorus.

In addition to oats, we've also managed to pack in some other pretty stellar ingredients. Let's take a look:

Quinoa Flakes: high in protein, fiber and trace minerals

Almond Flour: high in healthy fats and protein, also helps to give a soft, tender texture to baked goods

Flaxseed Meal: high in healthy, omega-3 fats, high in fiber, helps improve digestion, and acts as the egg in this recipe

Banana: great source of potassium, also very naturally sweet so it helps you reduce the other sugars you're using

Applesauce: packed with fiber and loads of vitamins like A, Bs, and C, and it acts as an oil replacer in this recipe

Maple Syrup: has is lower on the glycemic index that cane sugar which means it won't spike your blood sugar as much, it's sweeter so you need to use less of it, plus it also has some minerals (it's highest in manganese) as well as antioxidants

Coconut Sugar: is very low on the glycemic index (lower than maple syrup), but also contains trace minerals and antioxidants like you would see in other coconut products

Zucchini: is packed with vitamins and minerals, and it's very high in water content making it low in calories

If you're also feeling the need to get your bake on, then I highly recommend you whip up a batch of these babies. They're so simple and you'll have a healthy breakfast treat (or snack) for the rest of the week!

So excuse me while I go heat up another muffin and slather it in my favorite homemade nut butter (cinnamon maple pecan)!

Instructions

Make the flax egg by whisking together the flax and water. Set this aside to gel while you prepare the remaining ingredients.

Whisk together the dry ingredients (minus vanilla extract if using) in a large mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl, beat together banana, applesauce, milk and syrup. Whisk in flax egg and pour wet ingredients into dry. Stir to thoroughly combine (the batter will be kind of thick, but still stirable and soft). Fold in the zucchini and chocolate chips.

Fill each cup ¾ of the way full. Add water to the ones that are unused. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with additional chocolate chips if desired (it makes them uber chocolatey and pretty!).

Bake on the center rack for 23 – 25 minutes until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely. If desired, reheat in the toaster oven or in the microwave and top with nut butter (optional, but highly encouraged).

by Alyssa

51

1 review

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size

Amount Per Serving

As Served

Calories174kcalCalories from fat 42

% Daily Value

Total Fat5g

8%

Saturated Fat1g

5%

Cholesterol0mg

0%

Sodium138mg

6%

Carbohydrate30g

10%

Dietary Fiber3g

12%

Sugars13g

Protein5g

Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs:

Calories

2000

Total Fat

Less than

65g

Sat Fat

Less than

25g

Cholesterol

Less than

300mg

Sodium

Less than

2,400mg

Total Carbohydrate

300g

Dietary Fiber

25g

Ingredients I used in this recipe:

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Comments

I was so happy to see that you made these vegan!! I also loved that you used oat flour – my favorite! Can’t wait to bake up a storm with all the fresh zucchini popping up. <3 As for recommendations, everything you post is SO yummy, so I trust you completely! Haha. Have you ever tried lemon blueberry? That's one of my favorite combos right now!

These are SO amazing! Moist, delicious – just incredible! I had to bake mine about 31 minutes but probably just explained by different ovens, etc. I LOVE great gluten-free vegan baked goods. Thank.you for this recipe!

You can just substitute quick cooking oats and maybe stir in a bit of cooked quinoa. As for applesauce (that’s what you meant, right??), you can substitute another fruit puree like pear, banana, squash, etc. Let me know how they turn out for you!

Hi, can’t wait to make these. I have several friends who have gone gluten-free and I’ve been looking for gluten free recipes. Did you use rolled oats or another kind like quick? Thank you so much; so happy I found your site on Pinterest. Vivian

These muffins look delicious and perfect for summer when zucchinis are everywhere! I love making mini muffins for my kid’s lunch boxes (and my mouth!). My kids favorite combo is banana with chocolate chips and I love apricots and almonds in scones but would probably be great in muffins too.

Your instructions number 4 list pumpkin which is not listed in the ingredients. Guessing that is just a mistake. Just discovered your website and and wait to get started baking cookies etc. I only have one recipe for quinoa chocolate chip cookies. I usually add cooked quinoa to my cooked steel oats in the morning. Your have so many great recipes I having a hard time deciding which one to make first.

I’ve heard quinoa flakes can taste bitter. (Just like standard quinoa, which I always rinse and/or soak before cooking). So can I rinse the quinoa flakes before using in this recipe? Or would that affect the texture (since the flakes would be wet)? Thanks!

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Hi there! I'm Alyssa!

Welcome to Simply Quinoa, a blog dedicated to simple, healthy food, always with a quinoa twist. I'm a former marketer turned full-time blogger living in NYC, with a serious love of anything peanut butter or chocolate. It's nice to meet you!